The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has built a leather centre of excellence and garment college at Meqelle, Tigray Regional State. The centre of excellence can enroll 200 students a year and give classes up to level four courses. The project was inaugurated last week in the presence of Fetlwork Gebregiyzabher, minister of Trade & Industry, and Aurelia Calabro, UNIDO representative and director of the regional hub. The project is part of a 2.6-million-dollar UNIDO project called the “capacity-building and job creation for youth and women in the textile sector in migration prone areas of Ethiopia.” Funded by the Italian Government, the project has been developed to reduce irregular migration from Northern and Central Ethiopia by creating economic and employment opportunities.